Chennai were perhaps the most disappointed at being disbanded ahead of this auction, and understandably so. They had reached two IPL finals (they won one), a third semi-final, and were also champions of the Champions League. And so they attempted to keep the core of their unit intact, first by retaining four players - three of whom are Indian batsmen who would have been highly sought-after at the auction - and then by buying back as many of their players as they could. They managed seven. Chennai are unlikely to ever be short of bowling options because, in addition to the eight specialists, they have three allrounders in their squad. A rather well-balanced side in terms of skills and the Indian-foreign break-up.

At first glance, Deccan appear light on Indian talent, especially Indian batting talent, but they have enough money left over from the auction to snap up domestic players. They are thin in the multi-skilled department as well, with surprise purchase Dan Christian being their only allrounder. They also have only one wicketkeeper at present, Kumar Sangakkara, who is likely to lead the team as well. They, however, have a rich batting line-up that includes Kevin Pietersen, Cameron White and JP Duminy, and also little-known Chris Lynn.

The man raising Delhi's paddle at the auction was the fastest among all the franchises and he spent quite a bit of money, especially on Irfan Pathan, who bats and bowls but hasn't been a match-winner at either skill for some time. Delhi have several allrounders in their squad but they lack a top-class Indian batsman, apart from Virender Sehwag. They also have only one spinner in their roster of 17 players - Roelof van der Merwe. The batting line-up, however, is solid, and in Sehwag and David Warner, they perhaps have the most explosive opening combination of the IPL. They bought back only four players of their old squad and bid aggressively against Deccan Chargers for a lot of players.

While the other franchises spent and shopped over two days in Bangalore, Kings XI Punjab were sparing with their purchases and bought only 11 players. They have a little over $2 million to fill their squad with uncapped domestic players. The challenge is to pick up several high-quality ones to fill the gaps in their team. And there are many. They have only two specialist batsmen and their two allrounders are nothing to write home about. They also possess only one spinner at present. Their strengths lie in their fast bowling and their wicketkeeping reserves - Adam Gilchrist and Dinesh Karthik. Curiously, Punjab bid over a million for four other players but were never ready to go the distance to buy them, even though their purse was heavy.

Kochi have ten players capable of bowling four-over spells in a Twenty20 - four allrounders and six specialists - but their batting is thin, especially in terms of home talent. Their two Indian batsmen - VVS Laxman and Parthiv Patel - aren't deadly in the shortest format and at the moment the bulk of the runs will have to come from the foreign players. If that dependency doesn't change, it will hamper Kochi's chances of fielding the overseas bowlers and allrounders they have bid for. They were the first team to fill up their overseas slots.

No of players bought: 12 (5 Indian, 7 overseas)Money spent: $8.57mBig-ticket signing: Gautam Gambhir ($2.4m) and Yusuf Pathan ($2.1m)Bargain buy: Brad Haddin ($325,000) and Shakib Al Hasan ($425,000) Eyebrow-raiser: Manoj Tiwary ($475,000). Kolkata hadn't chased any of the players they previously had in their squad over the past three years, but towards the end of the first day they decided to go after Tiwary. One that got away: With two major buys in the first hour, Kolkata didn't have the money to raise the stakes high on too many other players.

Splashing the cash early meant they had a strong Indian batting core to rely on in Gautam Gambhir - their likely captain - and Yusuf Pathan. And, in a tournament where the strength of the Indian players determines team fortunes, they already have five players who should start most matches. They also supplemented that with three value-for-money foreign allrounders - Jacques Kallis, Shakib Al Hasan and Netherlands' Ryan ten Doeschate. One of their major drawbacks in previous seasons was the lack of a potent bowling attack, a weakness that persists with the current squad. They have Brett Lee, in his prime one of the finest limited-overs bowlers, but after being repeatedly ravaged by injury, it remains to be seen whether he retains the magic of old.

When they walked into the auction, their squad already boasted the biggest name in the game, the most exciting player in the format, and the deadliest bowler in Twenty20s. They added another marquee IPL name in Rohit Sharma, besides picking up some cut-price internationals like Clint McKay, whose slower balls mystify most batsmen, and South African Davy Jacobs, a lethal hitter who can double up as a wicketkeeper. The pedigree of their squad is unimpeachable, but Tendulkar has long stressed the importance of team spirit for success - how the squad containing Andrew Symonds and Harbhajan Singh gels will be fascinating to see.

The new franchise wanted a headliner to connect the franchise with fans, and got one early in Yuvraj Singh. Then they splurged on a finisher in Robin Uthappa, and also got two Indian bowlers who have proven themselves in the IPL - Ashish Nehra and Murali Kartik. Their overseas signings, though, lack the X-factor that most foreign recruits are expected to bring to the side. They have two exciting allrounders in Angelo Mathews and Jesse Ryder, but the fast bowling looks dodgy with both Jerome Taylor and Wayne Parnell having had long-term injuries.

Like after the first auction in 2008, Rajasthan look the weakest of the squads. For a franchise that started out with $2m less than the others due to legal complications, the decision to retain Shane Warne at an exorbitant $1.8m was a puzzle. To top that, they purchased another foreign spinner, Johan Botha, at a princely $950,000 - the most bizarre buy of the weekend. They now have only two Indian players - Rahul Dravid and Pankaj Singh, and no wicketkeepers yet, unless they plan to make Dravid keep. Expect them to pull out more wildcards like Swapnil Asnodkar and Kamran Khan to get by.
And they'll pray there's no Australian tour during the IPL - if Shane Watson and Shaun Tait are away, this squad will be in tatters.

This was another franchise which bet big on young Indian batting talent, and it reflected in their decision to retain Kohli and to aggressively pursue Saurabh Tiwary and Cheteshwar Pujara. In each of the first three seasons, Delhi's formidable squad made them pre-tournament favourites. Bangalore have now poached most of Delhi's erstwhile overseas talent - explosive and experienced top-order batting pair of Tillakaratne Dilshan and AB de Villiers, fast bowler Dirk Nannes and allrounder Daniel Vettori. It is a strong squad but the worries are the shortage of multi-skilled players and spinners. The owners would have also liked more local flavour in the outfit: the only Karnataka player they have currently is Abhimanyu Mithun. Expect them to go all out to secure Manish Pandey's services.

Mumbai Indians did a mistake by taking Rohit Sharma for such high value. With Sachin, Pollard and Symonds in batting. Even james franklin can bat. They don't need Rohit Sharma. Plus, they could have spent on Raydu, and few cheap players and spent more on Steyn. They would have got the deadliest bowling attack: Malinga, Steyn & Bhajji

POSTED BY
Amu123
on | January 10, 2011, 21:49 GMT

If you see the current team selection, KKR & Mumbai look the somewhat complete teams... you get a huge advantage by having quality all rounders in your team, & these two teams actually have plenty of good allrounders... a dream day for mumbai could be if sachin, Symonds & Pollard all fire the same time :-).... as for KKR I hope they would perform very well... they were the team which brought in the glamour to IPL but never have lived up to potential,,, hope this year with the new team they can.... Kallis in their team is a master stroke.. another team to watch out for is Kochi.....

POSTED BY
on | January 10, 2011, 21:13 GMT

A farce, highly biased in favor of Indian Cricketers. Jerome Taylor gets $100,000 and Irfan Pathan gets $1.9M. All self respecting foreign players would end up ignoring IPL. It is an insult, a humiliation of top foreign players.

POSTED BY
Eradicator
on | January 10, 2011, 21:01 GMT

The selection panel for Delhi Daredevils needs to be FIRED! Other than Sehwag (Who really has done JACK in the IPL)... do you see a match winner? Other teams have played it smart - I guess there is some money for finishing last this year!

POSTED BY
on | January 10, 2011, 20:55 GMT

pak players must have been for auctions, v miss the fun of afridi and razzak

POSTED BY
TimeCapsule
on | January 10, 2011, 20:43 GMT

I dunNo what r the frnczs luking 4.r theye going towards biG names??ray pRice n uTseya(frm zim) r 1 of the best Ttwenty bowlerS n luk at their ec0n0my at t20 (price 4.69,utseya 5.92).im surPrised why ths two werent sold.even razZaq fr0m bd is nw at an amazing form n number 3 bowler of oneday ranking n also a ec0n0mic bowler.n shame on kKr,s it luking 4 publicity?it didnt buy dada n nw offering him to work with them at board!did they do it for the exited bangalees???

POSTED BY
Rezaul
on | January 10, 2011, 20:27 GMT

It was a very bad example of leaving out Ganguly the star of India. Though he passed his pick time but he is still better than lots of Indian or Aussie players those were picked in this auction. For example, in IPL 2010, Ganguly scored 493 runs at average of 38 which is better than Symonds, Gilchirst, Warner, Sehwag, Dravid, Rohit Sharma, Sangakara, Kohli, Duminy, etc most of whom got whopping amount of deal this season but our Dada which is quite astonishing. But if we look carefully, we see that almost 6/7 francises has their coaching stuff and think tank Australians who always favored their countrymen in the auction no matter whether they are proven performer or not. And Ganguly had been always at the center of bitter relationship with his counter Aussies on and off the field. So, its understandable that they would not like him in their team. Thats where we lost dada. But I am sure dada will come back strongly again. Good luck dada.

POSTED BY
Charindra
on | January 10, 2011, 19:45 GMT

A washed up Shane Warne for $1.8mn when you can spend only $7m??? Wow, brilliant Rajasthan!

POSTED BY
on | January 10, 2011, 19:20 GMT

I have high regard for Saurabh Ganguli. I feel he should maintain dignity and should control himself and his supporters. T20 is not his cup of tea. In the opening position, the strike rate has to be minimum 140 to 150. He has strike rate of 105 at opening position in 26 matches of IPL, Even with an average of 23 he is a match loser. Out of 204 players participated in 3 IPLs, his strike rate of 105 is at 114th position. In terms of strike rate he is just better than tailender bowlers. He should respect the need of the hour and behave with disnity like Anil Kumble.

POSTED BY
kingofkingsmanu
on | January 10, 2011, 18:26 GMT

KAIFUUUUUUUUUUUU THE DRINKS SUPPLIER OF TEAM RCB

POSTED BY
nmaniar
on | January 10, 2011, 22:07 GMT

Mumbai Indians did a mistake by taking Rohit Sharma for such high value. With Sachin, Pollard and Symonds in batting. Even james franklin can bat. They don't need Rohit Sharma. Plus, they could have spent on Raydu, and few cheap players and spent more on Steyn. They would have got the deadliest bowling attack: Malinga, Steyn & Bhajji

POSTED BY
Amu123
on | January 10, 2011, 21:49 GMT

If you see the current team selection, KKR & Mumbai look the somewhat complete teams... you get a huge advantage by having quality all rounders in your team, & these two teams actually have plenty of good allrounders... a dream day for mumbai could be if sachin, Symonds & Pollard all fire the same time :-).... as for KKR I hope they would perform very well... they were the team which brought in the glamour to IPL but never have lived up to potential,,, hope this year with the new team they can.... Kallis in their team is a master stroke.. another team to watch out for is Kochi.....

POSTED BY
on | January 10, 2011, 21:13 GMT

A farce, highly biased in favor of Indian Cricketers. Jerome Taylor gets $100,000 and Irfan Pathan gets $1.9M. All self respecting foreign players would end up ignoring IPL. It is an insult, a humiliation of top foreign players.

POSTED BY
Eradicator
on | January 10, 2011, 21:01 GMT

The selection panel for Delhi Daredevils needs to be FIRED! Other than Sehwag (Who really has done JACK in the IPL)... do you see a match winner? Other teams have played it smart - I guess there is some money for finishing last this year!

POSTED BY
on | January 10, 2011, 20:55 GMT

pak players must have been for auctions, v miss the fun of afridi and razzak

POSTED BY
TimeCapsule
on | January 10, 2011, 20:43 GMT

I dunNo what r the frnczs luking 4.r theye going towards biG names??ray pRice n uTseya(frm zim) r 1 of the best Ttwenty bowlerS n luk at their ec0n0my at t20 (price 4.69,utseya 5.92).im surPrised why ths two werent sold.even razZaq fr0m bd is nw at an amazing form n number 3 bowler of oneday ranking n also a ec0n0mic bowler.n shame on kKr,s it luking 4 publicity?it didnt buy dada n nw offering him to work with them at board!did they do it for the exited bangalees???

POSTED BY
Rezaul
on | January 10, 2011, 20:27 GMT

It was a very bad example of leaving out Ganguly the star of India. Though he passed his pick time but he is still better than lots of Indian or Aussie players those were picked in this auction. For example, in IPL 2010, Ganguly scored 493 runs at average of 38 which is better than Symonds, Gilchirst, Warner, Sehwag, Dravid, Rohit Sharma, Sangakara, Kohli, Duminy, etc most of whom got whopping amount of deal this season but our Dada which is quite astonishing. But if we look carefully, we see that almost 6/7 francises has their coaching stuff and think tank Australians who always favored their countrymen in the auction no matter whether they are proven performer or not. And Ganguly had been always at the center of bitter relationship with his counter Aussies on and off the field. So, its understandable that they would not like him in their team. Thats where we lost dada. But I am sure dada will come back strongly again. Good luck dada.

POSTED BY
Charindra
on | January 10, 2011, 19:45 GMT

A washed up Shane Warne for $1.8mn when you can spend only $7m??? Wow, brilliant Rajasthan!

POSTED BY
on | January 10, 2011, 19:20 GMT

I have high regard for Saurabh Ganguli. I feel he should maintain dignity and should control himself and his supporters. T20 is not his cup of tea. In the opening position, the strike rate has to be minimum 140 to 150. He has strike rate of 105 at opening position in 26 matches of IPL, Even with an average of 23 he is a match loser. Out of 204 players participated in 3 IPLs, his strike rate of 105 is at 114th position. In terms of strike rate he is just better than tailender bowlers. He should respect the need of the hour and behave with disnity like Anil Kumble.

POSTED BY
kingofkingsmanu
on | January 10, 2011, 18:26 GMT

KAIFUUUUUUUUUUUU THE DRINKS SUPPLIER OF TEAM RCB

POSTED BY
Dr.K.H.Iyer
on | January 10, 2011, 18:05 GMT

@chunati: IPL has shown that test quality batsmen are the only ones who can excel in all conditions! The last IPL brought out the best: Kallis and Sachin! They are seniors; been playing the longer formats for more than 15 years, took their time to adjust but once adjusted; they wreaked havoc on opposition! Murali Vijay, branded a test batsman, also put up a good show! Those not of test quality like Saurav Ganguly bit the dust! Goes a long way in telling you where you need to start and thrive! But yes IPL will over the years bring the quality of Indian cricket down!

POSTED BY
Dr.K.H.Iyer
on | January 10, 2011, 17:58 GMT

I was surprised @ Mumbai Indians! With the little money they have left, how will they sign Ambati Rayudu? And there is no fast bowler to complement someone as good as Malinga! I thought they were certain to go after Steyn but by the time his name came up, they had less than 1.5 million dollars left! @ 2 million dollars on Rohit Sharma was overshot! So first choice line up :Sachin, Jacobs, Rohit, Symonds, Pollard, Bhajji, Malinga,! Four quality Indian players still required With half a million dollars, I can't see how it will happen! Rayudu alone is worth more than the money they are left wth! May be he will be given an Ad for some Reliance product :)

POSTED BY
on | January 10, 2011, 17:55 GMT

Kochi should go for Rahane & Anirudh srikanth

POSTED BY
on | January 10, 2011, 17:48 GMT

No Dada... No Chris Gayle... No Afridi... and at leat Flintoff has to appear in IPL...
SRK commented to regain Dada in his squad... is it true?

POSTED BY
on | January 10, 2011, 17:46 GMT

MI -- Top management !! Retain the best of lot, thus becomes a strong brand as recalling message is not atall diluted. New Buys are also spot on.

Pune Warriors - looks the most balanced & typical T20 team of this IPL.

POSTED BY
sachin1111989
on | January 10, 2011, 17:21 GMT

2.1 M for yusuf pathan!! Atrocious....Are we talking of a guy who doesnt even know how to sway away from short pitched stuff....Can play only against weak Indian fast bowlers...not against quality bowling as shown by Steyn from RCB in the previous seasons...Having said that, hope he proves me wrong and comes out and does justice to what he's been offered.

POSTED BY
Visakh51
on | January 10, 2011, 16:42 GMT

@Biju Jose;Yeah Kochi's batting line up is really poor;Anyway the elite panel auctions is over;I am not really sure abt the capabilities of Kerala's local batsmen(may be just one player or so);so good suggestions from other states are Manish Pandey,Monish Misra,Ambatty Rayudu ,Suman etc.

POSTED BY
on | January 10, 2011, 16:38 GMT

Kochi is definitely a Strong Contender This IPL.

POSTED BY
NikSaid
on | January 10, 2011, 16:29 GMT

On paper, Chennai, Mumbai, Kolkata and RCB looks great. Kochi is worse: even if their bowlers restricts other team to 100, it will be uphill task for their batsman!

POSTED BY
on | January 10, 2011, 16:11 GMT

the teams with the best batting line ups are CSK(as usual) MI RCB KKR and DC. Csk has to get a better bowling line up than what they have now( i am chennaite and support CSK!!!) I know that havin bollinger ashwin n morkel is a good bowling side but we need a good fast bowler who can get good swing n bounce to support bollinger n also a good spinner to support ashwin(hope they pick jakati) probably MI will pick 1 or 2 more bowlers or else they have a really good team. DC they will reach the finals of IPL 4(im sure of it)as they have a perfect bowlin n batting attack.For RCB they just need to find some good batsmen n bowlers who can fill in if some key player gets injured.KKR are in need of really good bowlers!! about other teams they are allright but not as good as the teams im talking about!!!

POSTED BY
kunaldada
on | January 10, 2011, 15:30 GMT

It needs to be noticed that raj royals have a curtailed budget of 7m, and they have indeed utilized that very efficiently.Its time to fight for their pride.They need to get manish pandey, abdullah, rahane and t suman/r satish in their squad.It will be tough as other teams also would be gunning for them but if they are able to get 3 of the above , especially the batsmen , they will do fine.

who are going to open the KKR innings? are they Gambir and Kallis? if so then it would be a great mistake.They are superb but both the player are like to play through the innings and they are not the big hitter and also they need some time to set. So KKR need an opener who can hit the ball from the begging of the innings. KKR can also buy back Gayle. But KKR did not go for their old player. If that is their strategy then who can be better than Tamim Iqbal replacing Gayle?
(Other big hitter opener like Sewag, D. Warner are not available )

It was the big mistake by KKR.

Because they probably not send Y.Pathan as an opener. So why not Tamim Iqbal? Remember the match of world cup 2007? when he hit all the Indian bowler very easily? No he is more mature then that time and prove himself as a big hitter opener for Bangladesh.

POSTED BY
Chunati
on | January 10, 2011, 14:44 GMT

IPL is destroying world cricket. The auction outcomes are really ridiculous. Its a shame that cricketers nowadays are just after money. Players starting their careers in IPL will just not be able to handle the longer form of the game. Money really talks.

Kochi is going to be one of the strong contenders for the last position in IPL4 i think.............

POSTED BY
on | January 10, 2011, 13:52 GMT

Chennai,Kolkata,Rajasthan,Mumbai and Pune look really good!!!

POSTED BY
on | January 10, 2011, 13:25 GMT

wat iz rajasthan royals doing... dont the want any player wat are they doing if the dont hav australian player... best of luck rajasthan but lack of support...

POSTED BY
Maddy1337
on | January 10, 2011, 13:23 GMT

very informative article....the Royals seem the weakest of the lot..dont know how much warne can do to change that...the Daredevils too seem a bit weak..shortage of big names i must say...kochi have missed some batsmen..and Kings XI have definitely bought too less

POSTED BY
Flat_Pitch_Bully
on | January 10, 2011, 13:13 GMT

Can someone explain the logic of having an auction this year? I am confused now... the loyalty that I had built for teams in the last 3 years, is all flushed down the drain!! Why have a complete overhaul of teams? What was the need? Could we not have just opened it up for player transfers if needed and let the franchises settle it amongst themselves? If it was for accomodating the requirements of the 2 new teams this year, am sure there would have been better ways to do that... don't ask me what better way, but a billion dollar fest can certainly think of some innovative ideas... and yes, we miss Lalit!!

POSTED BY
Mann123
on | January 10, 2011, 13:12 GMT

For those complaining about not including indian domestic players in auction, i think there is some sense to it. BCCI is trying to ensure the players who are still at the start of career don't get lured by big money and stop working hard on their game. If a first class cricketer gets 5-7 crores for hard hitting without worrying about technique why would he care to tighten up and play for India in tests. So i personally think its a good move in all the craziness that IPL is.

POSTED BY
on | January 10, 2011, 13:12 GMT

Teams that look real good so far.. - Chennai - Bangalore - Kochi - Mumbai and Pune also.... Good luck to the rest...

POSTED BY
on | January 10, 2011, 13:04 GMT

@Biju Jose: the domestic talent in kerala is pretty thin but we do have some names who can be given a chance. The first name that comes to my mind is a chap called Raiphy Vincent Gomez.. He is a capable batsman who can hit the ball a long long way. There is also a steady southpaw named Rohan Prem who played for Roi last year.

POSTED BY
Mohideenpms
on | January 10, 2011, 12:58 GMT

can anybody tell why RR started out with $2m less cash?

POSTED BY
shrini1963
on | January 10, 2011, 12:52 GMT

hey guys wait a minute .Talking of MI, CSK,RCB but look at DC and the purse left with them. They can bag the best of uncapped players like Ambati Rayudu, Manish Pandey,T. Suman etc. Don`t underestimate them. With Dale Steyn, Ishant Sharma firing from all cylinders , Pragyan Ojha& Amit Mishra spinning the ball like a top , kevin peiterson &new Australian captain Camerrn White along with Sanga coming all guns Blazing it looks another formidable side which can give the other teams a run for their money.

POSTED BY
on | January 10, 2011, 12:51 GMT

@Biju Jose..Ofcourse they can oft AT Rayadu,STR Binny,Ibrahim Khaleel and even Gourav Dhiman...( where is the guy now? I saw him last KPL for Bijapur Bulls,an explosive batsman with nippy medium pace bowling).Then they can opt for Monish Mishra( last time played for DC)...And our own Raiphy V Gomez & Sanju samson can make an impact...! MA Agarwal of Karnataka is another option.

POSTED BY
sachin_vvsfan
on | January 10, 2011, 12:47 GMT

Kochi being the first timers in this auction has definitely made some stupid mistakes.Where are they going to fit laxman (i am vvs fan btw. but this isnot his cup of t) Jayawardene must be feeling very happy for his price. But iam sure he will have tough time a head. Just imagine how wild sreesanth can turn when he plays for the local team. He will probably fight with his own teammates (i just cant wait for IPL4 :)

AND the BID OF MILLENNIUM: SIR R. JADEJA.
Damn why didn't i play gully cricket and get noticed by some coach to recommend me to shane warne and just make warne to talk something positive about me in the media so that i can get picked up for the national T20 team . I may cost 2 T20 world cups and u fans may curse me but who gives a damn? there will always be some stupid franchise that can spend crores on me just because i have played for the national team.

can any one tell what RR will do? they bought only 8 player? remaining what they will do?

POSTED BY
on | January 10, 2011, 12:36 GMT

nice.......... teams....

POSTED BY
Prasad38
on | January 10, 2011, 11:14 GMT

Sachin great . . . . so MI is great .

Always greatest teams make history !!!!!

POSTED BY
tones765
on | January 10, 2011, 10:45 GMT

Chennai have been just brilliant in the auction, however i would have loved to see them buy a solid opener to partner vijay and would have loved to have murali in the team! Otherwise their strategy was brilliant!

I do hope we can sign some good domestic talent..manish pandey, rayudu,mukund, jakati, yo mahesh, sangwan, bhatia, trivedi, kulkarni..! Randiv is a good buy and a potential long term replacement for murali who can bat well too..!

CSK did well to buy Back almost of their Players and shown Loyalty by Bidding them up to their Budget(for Murali 1 Mn and for Balaji 500k). I must Salute them for showing this loyalty and this will now make sure the players will give their 100%. Still I feel they Missed some Big chances of Buying a Solid Opener to Partner M Vijay. They are going to pay a heavy price for it. They should have went after Davy Jacobs or Aron Finch or Michael Klinger. All are cheap but they Missed out. They also Missed out a Fast Bowler and IMO Kula and Jogi is a Waste Buy. Now I would Like to See them Buying R Sathish and G Vignesh to Strengthen the team along with S Jagati. I want a Line up like this, 1. M Vijay, 2. G Vignesh/R Sathish, 3. S Raina, 4. S Badrinath, 5. MS Dhoni, 6. A Morkel(O), 7. D Bravo(O)/ S Styris(O)/M Hussey(O), 8. R Ashwin, 9. S Randiv(O), 10. S Jagati/ R Sathish, 11. D Bollinger(O)/Hilfy(O). I m bit confused How to fit G Vignesh, R Sathish and S Jagati since only 2 can fit in to 11.

POSTED BY
sirvivfan
on | January 10, 2011, 10:30 GMT

What a sad world we live in! BCCI controls world cricket and ICC are its agents. Some huge discrepanices in selection no Chris Gayle, Hashim Amla? Loads of Austrialians worst of this example is Dan Christian who commands $900k and yet not a single Pakistani.Umar Gul, Afridi, Razzaq to name a few. Absolute disgrace! Shame on you. Inidian are uncle Toms of the cricket world. No fairness, what so ever. ICC should be taken to task for non selection of Pakistan players and there should be more West Indian players!!! S

POSTED BY
ABP235
on | January 10, 2011, 10:18 GMT

There is an error on David Hussey's price also (one place it is 140k and in another 1.4m.

POSTED BY
la_bazza
on | January 10, 2011, 10:14 GMT

Faf du Plessis isn't a bowler, he is a batting allrounder.

POSTED BY
DavidJeyaraj
on | January 10, 2011, 10:02 GMT

CSK looks perfect. Though they missed Murali, they have shown the confidence on their former players by chasing. Their team composition is set - they need not bother much about uncapped players. They have a lot of local colour with only Dinesh Karthik being the big one missing - obviously Dhoni cannot be done away with. The playing 11 would read:
1. Vijay 2. Hussey 3. Raina 4. Dhoni 5. Badri/Bailey/Plessis 6. Bravo/Randiv 7. A Morkel/Styris 8. Ashwin 9. Bollinger 10. Hilfenhaus/Kulasekara 11. Sharma. Those after slashes will be the second choices.
A perfect 11: 5 batsmen, 2 all-rounders, 4 bowlers.

POSTED BY
on | January 10, 2011, 9:46 GMT

Deccan Look Best i think...

POSTED BY
on | January 10, 2011, 9:44 GMT

How did Botha go for so much more than Vettori?? I thought Vettori had the best economy rate of any bowler in the IPL at one point?

POSTED BY
shrihari.a
on | January 10, 2011, 9:37 GMT

I am tired of seeing a lot of Bangladeshi fans lamenting for Tamim Iqbal. I dont get the point at all.. Guys he might be great in Bangladesh.. but his numbers are not near international standards.
Averages 13.6 in T20I with a strikerate of 93
Averages 21 with a strike rate of 109 in all T20s played.
He averages only 29 in ODIs. All these numbers are below par..
On the other hand Rohit Sharma averages 35.3 with a very healthy strike rate of 128+

POSTED BY
WhiteRaven
on | January 10, 2011, 9:20 GMT

MS Dhoni will lead a familiar side .. CSK owners must have thought of re-uniting the team and succeed it. Other teams looked for something new n better. Dwayne Bravo , Scott Styris are bonus. team looks even stronger than before. bowling dougie, ben ashwin albie batting raina vijay dhoni hussey n badri. complete team!

POSTED BY
on | January 10, 2011, 9:14 GMT

IPL 4 - How the Teams Stack Up & Who bought Who !!!!!

POSTED BY
on | January 10, 2011, 9:10 GMT

So far the best teams built up by Chennai & Mumbai. Then Kokkata & Bangalore.

POSTED BY
Iyergirish
on | January 10, 2011, 9:07 GMT

I think CSK is the Team is the only which will retain its supporters. Other teams failed to do so. The consistency also is very good so as the loyalty shown to their player by the management. Good luck for CSK. Hope they will continue their good Show.

POSTED BY
on | January 10, 2011, 9:06 GMT

what happen to the franchises they left lara,who brings the crowd like sachin & dhoni because our fans respect lara as a greatest player like sachin

POSTED BY
freakygs
on | January 10, 2011, 9:06 GMT

IPL is just a money spinning business-entertainmant entity now; with least importance to fans, spectators and cricket in particular.

POSTED BY
Raaakz
on | January 10, 2011, 8:47 GMT

Mumbai,Chennai and Bangalore have the strongest squads...

POSTED BY
Nashty
on | January 10, 2011, 8:44 GMT

Hi All..By looking at all the Teams almost finlised..Mumbai and Chennai Made wise decision to retain their key Players..and Kolkatta also made a wise move by not retain any player.and the Worst of them all is RCB,first they not retained Kumble or Kallis and spent too much for S.Tiwary and now they actually dont hav good Captain in the side,they hav to rely on Kohli or Kaif or out of form Vettori or may be injure porn Zahir to lead.I think for IPL-4 its look like Mumbai is Strongest and Well Balanced Side followed by Chennai,Kolkatta,Pune,Deccan,Dellhi,Punjab,Cochin,RCB and Rajasthan.

POSTED BY
Cricinfo-Editorial
on | January 10, 2011, 8:43 GMT

Thanks to threeheadedmonkey and others for pointing out the error regarding Chris Lynn. This has now been corrected.

POSTED BY
kingofkingsmanu
on | January 10, 2011, 8:06 GMT

rcb lokks strongest. they will have blore's shaan manish in the batting, alrounder stuart binny who performed well in ranjis might be another one there, and a leader in daniel vettori makes a dam good squad, ofcource not to forget jumbo as the cheif mentor

POSTED BY
jimbond
on | January 10, 2011, 7:44 GMT

Kochi has five reasonable Indian bowlers- bought at a reasonably high price- Sreesanth, RP, Vinay, Powar and Jadeja. So how are they planning to play Muralitharan? And how about Steve Smith- who could actually have bowled four overs easily? Actually two good wicketkeeper batsmen for them came at a low cost, so Parthiv can anyway play as an Indian batsman irrespective of whether Mcullum plays or not. They would be smart if by some additional incentives, they are able to draw people like Manish Pandey and Suman to their team. Unless they needed Mahela as a captain, he came at a high cost- they could have bought a good indian batsman for some more. And they could have had Dravid for much less.

Leaving out Gayle was stupid. The guy bowls four economical overs and does power batting better than any other. Same with Jacob Oram- he should be more valuable than Vettori. And why was Fidel Edwards not picked- fitness?

POSTED BY
Rohan0309
on | January 10, 2011, 7:41 GMT

RCB has made some real value buys this time around. I still remember Van der Wath's explosive batting in "that" 434 game. Rilee Roussow was super for Cobras in Champions League. Good steal at 20k. With no Indian spinner in RCB, it looks like Vettori's gonna get many games under his belt! But the team to watch out for is Mumbai Indians...Ferocious batting line-up...Sachin and Jacobs to open, Pollard, Rohit Sharma and Symonds to follow...Not to mention Harbhajan who can be awesome on his day and the best T20 bowler Slinga Malinga!! If this isn't a killer team, what is?? :D

POSTED BY
CricketkaFunda
on | January 10, 2011, 7:34 GMT

Who cares? It's rubbish cricket. Only beneficiaries are fringe players with no actual cricketing skill (but skill of sloggers). They would'nt have been able to feed them properly if IPL would'nt have been there. Now, these players are earning in millions. There is a saying " Jab khuda Mehebaan, to gadha pehlwaan" meaning by Go's grace even idiots can be in riches.

POSTED BY
prasanth.kongati
on | January 10, 2011, 7:17 GMT

FYI..for some one who asked about Rayudu....he is stil uncapped..and mumbai likely to retain him with very less money official...and hefts of perks outside..and if you are unaware..he is alreay playing for baroda and working for a reliance firm....

POSTED BY
prasanth.kongati
on | January 10, 2011, 7:14 GMT

Guys, please let me know who is the most under-rated and over-rated players do you think have been picked in the entire pool..I see most under-rated...is James franklin of NZ..he is going to prove very much in IPL 2011..mark my words..and most over rated is again Gambhir..who is really not worth for 2 miillion followed by Rohit sharma.....

POSTED BY
on | January 10, 2011, 7:13 GMT

Chris Lynn is a batsmen..

POSTED BY
on | January 10, 2011, 7:03 GMT

what abt ganguly ????????..............

POSTED BY
on | January 10, 2011, 6:50 GMT

Except for CSK other teams choices seem bizarre. KKR seems to be run by idiots - they are the worst in 3 IPLs and wont improve with next 2 either with their bizarre choice of dropping Ganguly and paying too much for Gambhir and Pathan. As a CSK fan, the only thing I could complain is there wont be signficant challenge to take the trophy from Dhoni's men. We need a contest and looking at this squad the other teams could surrender meekly.

POSTED BY
Alexk400
on | January 10, 2011, 6:31 GMT

Chennai should boycott CSK as there is no tamil players there. Badrinath , balaji , murali vijay are all from andhra. :). Chennai lost only tamil guy muralidharan. Boycott chennai. :D

POSTED BY
on | January 10, 2011, 6:18 GMT

This time not supporting to RCB. mostly to RR will be my team this time

POSTED BY
on | January 10, 2011, 6:15 GMT

I suggest that Royal Challengers Bangalore pick up players like Manish Pandey, Stuart Binny and Ganesh Sathish to add the LOCAL FLAVOUR to the team, as there is only one at present i.e. Abhimanyu Mithun. And most probably, Ganesh Sathish should play every match, since he has an excellent track record in Domestic Cricket. (the other one or two players can be rotated between the remaining three).

POSTED BY
iamgroot
on | January 10, 2011, 6:11 GMT

10 franchises ..and some of them had full money with them and still they didnt bid for "that man".. that is inspite of having MONEY.. After watching 3 yrs of IPL the people are very clear about what they want and who is worth what. When they are spending millions of dollars dont they know ? wont they care? are they so blind? do u think they are stupid ? no they are not... Kumble was very clever and intelligent on the other hand.. the moment it was announced that he and many others names are put in the auction he pulled out.. Now thats called intelligence and he gave a respectable reason and pulled out quietly. so if u want "this man" to play in kkr or any team make a fans association . collect 5 to 7 million$ (minimum) and then bid for SG..make a 11th team.bcoz 10 other franchises wont.. burning effigies wont put SG on the cricket field or IPL so think about it.. prove ur loyalty towards SG by this way and put him on cricket field , make him captain and build a team .. compete NOW!!

POSTED BY
on | January 10, 2011, 5:57 GMT

@Jignesh.....if u consider that as stupid, what about these?? Irfan 1.9m, Rohit Sharma 2m, Johan botha .9m (to me, the most stupid act of this auction)

POSTED BY
on | January 10, 2011, 5:57 GMT

@FastBowler55: Botha is termed as the most bizarre buy because there's lot more than just cricket to IPL. There are whole lots of economic dynamics which u need to understand apart from cricket. Whoever wrote that has watched a lot of cricket plus he has some business brains with him. You can play only upto 4 overseas players which means you have to play 7 indian players. 10 teams makes it atleast 70 players to play the game. There were only 48 players for 70 playing spots on auction while for foreign players supply was much more than demand. In the constraints of supply and demand what do you think is the more bizzare buy - botha for 0.95 mi or Abhishek Nayar for 0.8 mi or Irfan Pathan for 2 mi? Clearly if u have little business sense you may get my point. Someone rightly said swann was available for 400k!

POSTED BY
on | January 10, 2011, 5:53 GMT

Why have Kings XI Punjab kept mum all these days. They have rarely picked up any players, and haven't even spent much money.

POSTED BY
sweetspot
on | January 10, 2011, 5:53 GMT

@Srinidhijay - You're sadly mistaken. Mahela is Kochi's prized buy! Most definitely captain too. CSK sadly let Murali go to Kochi too, but the rest of their armoury looks pretty good. What were KKR thinking? This is what happens when film star clowns try to do things they do not understand.

POSTED BY
on | January 10, 2011, 5:44 GMT

Where is James Anderson, the bowler who really had a dream run down under. He was the leading wicket taker with 24 wickets in 5 tests. Greame Swann did well as well, but both have been utterly ignored. This is unbelievable.

POSTED BY
vpk23
on | January 10, 2011, 5:22 GMT

Pune seems to be having the best fit

POSTED BY
fkauser
on | January 10, 2011, 5:10 GMT

According to the team I think Banglore Looks very strong....They have Batsmen: Virat Kohli ,Saurabh Tiwary ,Cheteshwar Pujara ,Tillakaratne Dilshan ,Mohammad Kaif ,.....Bowlers: Zaheer Khan,Dirk Nannes ,Abhimanyu Mithun ,Charl Langeveldt , Nuwan Pradeep .......Allrounders: Daniel Vettori ,Johan van der Wath......Wicketkeepers: AB de Villiers .....its a very good combination of players.........and dont forget they have vettori and ab de villier both can bat very well and now i am sure they will pick some good locl talent.

POSTED BY
on | January 10, 2011, 4:52 GMT

Being a big fan of Sanga, from across the emerald island's border, I'm really surprised at the relatively lower price he commanded with respect to his ability. An able captain, dashing batsman, superb wicket-keeper : he could bring a lot of things to the table.

@AllroundCricketFan : Every overseas player need to apply for the IPL themselves after getting the NOC from their respective cricket boards. The reason why Hashim Amla doesn't feature in the list is got to do with him and CSA.

POSTED BY
tikna
on | January 10, 2011, 4:50 GMT

I would have liked to see D. Hussey in Mumbai team rather then Symonds.

The other big thing for me was KKR dropping Kolkata from their name, I understand them not having Ganguly in the team and all that but dropping the name of the city is really a shame for Kolkatans and since most are likely to not support KKR, I say shift to supporting Mumbai

POSTED BY
on | January 10, 2011, 4:40 GMT

Some franchises have clearly missed the trick especially Kochi, Kings XI Punjab & Rajasthan Royals (coincidently all three were involved in famous controversies). Kochi & RR's batting sign-ups were close to horrible and Kochi will have tough time as they don't have much quality domestic players (they are in Plate League since seasons) and also all their neighboring states have a team so don't have extended catchment area like MI, DD, & KKR

POSTED BY
Ozcricketwriter
on | January 10, 2011, 4:34 GMT

Good article. Very informative. Thank you. Please let us know what happens with the uncapped players.

POSTED BY
Hollaz
on | January 10, 2011, 4:21 GMT

Fasbowler55, that is because there are a surplus of foriegnes,Indian talent is scarce.Indian players fetch more at auction becuase of supply and demand.

POSTED BY
on | January 10, 2011, 3:54 GMT

Kochi is looking very thin on batting and fielding. Being from Kochi was just checking on the final playing combinations possible, and found it very hard to put up a good one. Slow movers galore. Every hit to the outfield will guarantee at least 2 runs to the opposition. With a cap of only 4 foreign players allowed they will struggle. Now their only hope is to find at least 4 good local players who can either bat well or are good all-rounders.
Any good names for those slots? Anybody?

POSTED BY
on | January 10, 2011, 3:12 GMT

the foreign domestic players always outshine the local domestic player

POSTED BY
on | January 10, 2011, 3:04 GMT

Pune got the best squad, I think.

POSTED BY
Rosey86
on | January 10, 2011, 2:45 GMT

I'm sure it has been mentioned already but Chris Lynn is not a bowler, but a high to middle order batsmen from QLD, who many judges believe will be a test batsmen in the coming years

POSTED BY
RogerC
on | January 10, 2011, 2:23 GMT

Only CSK management has shown loyalty to the players. Kudos to CSK management. Other franchises will struggle get the respect of players considering the way the auction was handled by the management. Particularly the way RCB has ignored Karnataka players like Dravid, Uthappa, Vinay, Manish, etc is sad. So is the case with KKR and DC. Their fans will be totally confused about whom to support in this IPL.

POSTED BY
dilipm
on | January 10, 2011, 2:06 GMT

Some team owners goofed up and spent big unnecessarily to snare average players. The ones who have hardly any money left to buy more promising players are Mumbai,Kolkata & Rajasthan. They have signed up 12,12 and 8 players and have $ 0.48 m,0.43m and 0.8 m respectively left in the kitty. These owners should have at least a team of 15 considering injuries and form of players during IPL4! Mumbai paid R Sharma too much and since Symonds has not played recently $ 650,000 was very high.
Kolkata has paid heavily for Gambhir, Pathan and Balaji. Rajasthan has splurged too much on Ross Taylor and Botha!
Chennai, Bangalore, Delhi , Kochi and even Pune have been smarter as they have a large pool to choose from and have money left to buy players according to need.
Overall however players like Uthappa, S.Tiwary,I Pathan,D Karthik, P.Chawla,Jadeja,U Yadav, Venugopal should count themselves lucky that they are being paid much more than they are worth! Strange that Rayudu hasn't been picked!

POSTED BY
Jaggadaaku
on | January 10, 2011, 1:01 GMT

Saurabh Tiwari - 1.6 Million????? Vijay Malya must be the stupidest buyer in Cricket. He is good at business but sucks at cricket.

RR could have bought Chris Gayle and Greame Swann $400,000 each instead of Botha and would have still saved $100,000....... Where is Mathew Hayden didn't he put his name for the auctions???

POSTED BY
threeheadedmonkey
on | January 9, 2011, 22:23 GMT

" The price range among their several bowlers varies from $1.2 million (Dale Steyn) to $20,000 (little known Chris Lynn). "

Chris Lynn is an Australian BATSMAN not a bowler.

POSTED BY
Alexk400
on | January 9, 2011, 22:16 GMT

Worst is delhi daredevils. If sehwag got bored , DD will be in tatters.

POSTED BY
on | January 9, 2011, 21:35 GMT

i dont know about any other players but for sure irfan will pass with flying colours as we indians really need him in indian team and hope that he will do justice to his talent and the money that has been offered to him..all the best Irfan

POSTED BY
on | January 9, 2011, 21:32 GMT

at "fastbowler55" it's bizzare because they already have shane warne, why would you pay another 900K for another spinner!?

POSTED BY
on | January 9, 2011, 21:28 GMT

@Fastbowler55:
What is needed is not cricket knowledge, but knowledge of economics!!! This is a clear case of demand and supply mismatch!! While cricket is a factor in determining the skill of the players, the amount for which they are bought is dependent on the price being quoted, and the alternatives available.

Each team can field a maximum of 4 non-Indians each game, and as such need 6-7 quality foreigners in their squad. With 300 foreigners being auctioned, for about 70 odd places, it doesn't make economic sense to pay them high amounts, unless they are truly irreplaceable like Dale Steyn. In that sense, Botha is not irreplaceable, as someone else could be bought, for those low prices.

But with only 48 capped Indians to fill for about 120 slots, of which around 30 have played ODIs/T20s recently, they obviously were in demand! Everyone craved for these players, and hence they attracted higher bids, because these were "irreplaceable" by the other available Indian players!!

POSTED BY
on | January 9, 2011, 21:11 GMT

Where is Manish Pandey and y he is not selected by any one

POSTED BY
on | January 9, 2011, 12:58 GMT

RR could of got Swann for 400,000 and instead they bid 900,000 for Botha what are they doing !!

POSTED BY
Fastbowler55
on | January 9, 2011, 10:40 GMT

To call Johan Botha 'the most bizarre buy of the day" when Abishek Nayar fetched 800k and Irfan Pathan almost 2 mio, shows a complete lack of understanding of the game of cricket. Whoever wrote that has clearly never watched a game in their lives. There are probably 20 signings more 'bizarre' than that. Run of the mill indian players are being valued at 10-20 times their real value. C'mon blokes, get the blinkers off

POSTED BY
Benkl
on | January 9, 2011, 9:48 GMT

"Harbhajan and Symonds together?? Implosion likely" .. my money is on Symonds in the locker room.

POSTED BY
Vilander
on | January 9, 2011, 8:24 GMT

And i think we are set to see one last hurray from Dravid this time for Rajastan, something in the lines of what kallis and tend did last time.

POSTED BY
Vilander
on | January 9, 2011, 8:21 GMT

Kochi has eaten into Chennai, Murali gone and Kochi is doing well, they have got Mahela as cap'n good, an other conservative clever southern franchise. but who got kallis?

POSTED BY
on | January 9, 2011, 8:09 GMT

Wasnt surprised a bit that Dada was unsold. Somebody said coach, gotta be kidding, he doesnt even know how to ground a bat.

POSTED BY
evenflow_1990
on | January 9, 2011, 7:52 GMT

you guys will all have a cry about people not getting signed up ... even if guys like ganguly got signed up it would have made a difference to their bank accounts, not yours. so why get all worked up about it? hahaha

POSTED BY
ambica.prasad
on | January 9, 2011, 7:09 GMT

No local boys to RCB. Hey Mallyas.... my three fingers are up.... hope you can read between the lines ;-)

POSTED BY
on | January 9, 2011, 7:05 GMT

IPL 2011 semi finalists - KKR, MI, Kochi and CSK.

POSTED BY
Gizza
on | January 9, 2011, 6:34 GMT

RR always choose underrated players. They will do well again. Remember Yusuf Pathan was a nobody before the IPL and is huge now, in fact too huge. And he won't live up to the hype at Calcutta, haha.

POSTED BY
on | January 9, 2011, 5:43 GMT

As a CSK fan i am happy that the old players are retained.There is no point of changing a winning team.As supporters we will find it easier to back the team as they all have played for CSK b4.It is about building a team and brand

POSTED BY
Maheshmayu
on | January 9, 2011, 5:21 GMT

It is really a shame when they can consider the international players who hasn't played for their national teams but still considered to the acution!!!!!!! but why not the locals as pandey, rayadu, & others!!!!!!!!! common wake up BCCI ??????? what u r going to prove here!!!!!!!!! shame just shame!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

POSTED BY
on | January 9, 2011, 5:19 GMT

Am an hardcore csk fan but disheartened to see our prince dada had not been auctioned hope he gets picked n smash runs n prove srk tat cricket s his passion n money is many wit him as he's an born wit goldspoon we love u dada..

POSTED BY
on | January 9, 2011, 5:05 GMT

its really unbelievable that Saurabh did not got any buyer and there was not much interested in buying Rahul, Dwayne Bravo and Graeme Smith as they went very cheaply. where average player like Ravindra Jadeja got $950,000, price and status of these stalwarts is heartbreaking.

it will be interesting to see how second day will go for all the teams.
It seems that currently Rajasthan is the weakest and Chennai is well set to go ahead.

POSTED BY
reality_hurts
on | January 9, 2011, 4:51 GMT

Well, 4Mil reasons to feel great, because both get OVERPAID. This is only possible in USA sports where players get paid for nothing. What a waste of money paying lke these scrubs like Uthappa, Irfan, Rohit sharma, PIyoush chawla, Gambhir (total T20 waste, this guy cant bowl, cant field, cant run fast, cant hit hard). How are earch in this world this guy worth $2.4mil

POSTED BY
AdityaMookerjee
on | January 9, 2011, 4:00 GMT

I like the policy followed by the Pune Warriors at the auction. Somehow, their selections seemed the most impressive, and sensible. They have the aid of deep pockets, and a deep knowledge of what a T-20 team should consist of.

POSTED BY
on | January 9, 2011, 3:05 GMT

will surely miss ganguly...i m not going to watch any KKR game without him...not at all....even if it is against our own KXIP.... i m deeply disappointed

Best buys for me for the day was Dilshan for 650k and Sanga for 700k. Comparing their cricketing abilities, current form and the price what Mahela went for, this is a real deal.

POSTED BY
on | January 9, 2011, 1:46 GMT

Lets see how'll kochi do, cant wait for our home match.... we all are behind you team kochi,
die hard fan here....

POSTED BY
Cpt.Meanster
on | January 9, 2011, 1:43 GMT

I am flabbergast at the inclusion of Pune in the IPL. I have always felt Pune has no identity of its own given the proximity to Mumbai. There should have been a Gujarati franchise. The people of that wonderful state deserve their own IPL team. South India has 4 IPL teams to go with the region's 4 states. The north has DD, Kings XI. The east has KKR and the west now have 2 in Mumbai and Pune. The border state of Rajasthan has RR and it's only justifiable to have another one in there. Ahmadabad is a world class venue and Gujarat has produced quality players for India over the years. The Pathan brothers, Parthiv and Munaf Patel etc are all from Gujarat. Give me a break IPL. I can neither understand your bidding process nor the structure of including new teams.

POSTED BY
on | January 9, 2011, 1:15 GMT

These prices make me sick. None of them deserve millions

POSTED BY
RogerC
on | January 9, 2011, 0:49 GMT

CSK will start with an advantage of established team. It seems they have a smart thinking management team. Murali was lost sadly though CSK tried their best to get him. Would be interesting to see if CSK will sign Swann now...

POSTED BY
satyakam
on | January 9, 2011, 0:48 GMT

I think the best teams looking up so far are MI and CSK. It clearly shows that strategy of retaining 4 players worked very well for MI and CSK. But they both made one mistake in my view. MI shd have retained Zaheer instead of Malinga. Similarly, CSK shd have been more aggresive on Murali instead of Badri. KKR is going to flop again, this time loosing both fans and cricket. C'mon 4.3 million for Gambhir and Yusuf. Yusuf will probably win them 1 or 2 match against weak bowling and Gambhir was way overpriced.I am no fan of Dada but not buying Dada made absolutely no cricketing or business sense. Overall teams are looking even weaker then last time.

POSTED BY
AllroundCricketFan
on | January 9, 2011, 0:00 GMT

Hi guys, can someone assist us please. Where is Hashim Amla? Is he not chosing to play because of the alcohol sponsorship at the IPL? I am aware a few of the teams are sponsored by alcohol brands! Maybe thats his reasoning, seeing he does not wear Castle on his SA shirt. The number 1 batsman in the world in ODI's not featuring, dont you think its something more than meets the eye? Every South African Proteas player and non-Proteas players are in the Auction list but no AMLA? Can someone please clarify this???

POSTED BY
Susnato.Chattopadhyay
on | January 8, 2011, 23:23 GMT

Was it really necessary to take Dada away from us?Couldn't Dada have been a better option than at least Manoj Tiwary....Anyway Mr. Shahrukh khan you did what you think suits your KING CARIZMA ....Don't worry , PRINCE OF KOLKATA'S fan will not turn their back on you BECAUSE THIS BACKSTABBING : WE HAVE BEEN FACING SINCE 1993 AND WE KNOW THE TASTE OF IT.........SO WE DON'T..

-DIE HARD FAN OF DADA

POSTED BY
Susnato.Chattopadhyay
on | January 8, 2011, 22:50 GMT

missing you dada......IT'S HEARTMOISTENING.......

POSTED BY
Susnato.Chattopadhyay
on | January 8, 2011, 22:41 GMT

It's all right KKR.They have tightened their belt enough,showing their head-banging homework.Hail Mr. Shahrukh Khan & co.But being a kolkatan I must say apart from all statistics and things Sourav Ganguly could have been a factor and our loving Shahrukh Khan could have bid him good bye in a bit respected way rather than kicking him out as BCCI has done with his international career.But this brutal script has been a plan in the way of KKR's bidding,may be in the way of their triump.Business is all right,but when a player will take a stunner,when someone will be firing with all cylinder,is there any reflection of money????No...not at all.IT'S THEN THE CRAZIEST GAME IN THE WORLD : THE CRICKET.So the finest phrase "one last time" for DADA which could have been this time...FINE MR. SHAHRUKH KHAN,BE THE WINNER..I REMAIN WITH "THE CELEBRATED SON NEGLECTED BENGAL".

POSTED BY
on | January 8, 2011, 21:36 GMT

@bigwonder.... you are absolutely right ,why 2 mahrashtan teams ,ahmadabad was a better one

Without a doubt Rajasthan is the worst team so far.
Think Kochi has being the wisest coz they have 6 Indian players 2m in the pocket also.
Even Chennai has a great side but its bcoz they retained players.
If they spend wisely tomorrow even Deccan is in a good position.
Think Bagolore also manage 2 gather up a good team.

Congratz Ghambir, Yu r one and only hero in ipl, \keep it up.................

POSTED BY
getgopi
on | January 8, 2011, 19:21 GMT

So b Muralidaran C Jayawardene will continue...

POSTED BY
on | January 8, 2011, 19:18 GMT

@ all ganguly fans......... i know dada is a mass leader...gr8 player..but v ned 2 accept dat hes not up2 da mark 2 play ipl....he can be a vry gud coach.... dont 4get he has a gr8 view of cricket...all his articles in newspaper r spot on! regarding any team any player any contest......

I'm surprised to see there's no takers of Sourav Ganguly. He is still an experienced good player in all formats of the game. His commitment,class and all round ability would have been considered for retention by Knight Riders. I hope Deccan or any other team should pick him and that will again ensure Ganguly play his best and prove to the selectors.

POSTED BY
on | January 8, 2011, 18:46 GMT

@ Rony Shawkat's ''KKR is making mistakes again, They are busy with Overseas players only.'' Hey dude KKR has bought the most valuable Indian players in the form of Gauti Gambhir 2.4 M,Yusuf Pathan 2.1 M and they have roped in Manoj Tiwary as well,so you are saying Overseas Players Only,check your head dude..
KKR WILL RULE!!!!!!!SRK ROX..

POSTED BY
9ST9
on | January 8, 2011, 18:41 GMT

TM Dilshan joins up on Malliya's side. Birds of a feather flock together.This should be fun.....

POSTED BY
bigwonder
on | January 8, 2011, 18:37 GMT

I am still trying to figure out why Maharashtra needs two teams (Mumbia and Pune) while there are plenty of other states in the country that can afford teams and have good players. Same about Kochi - too much squabbling and probable corruption.

POSTED BY
on | January 8, 2011, 18:27 GMT

i hope dada comes to chennai at base price tomorrow and also murali kartik.

POSTED BY
on | January 8, 2011, 18:20 GMT

i am still confused why no one went after gayle

POSTED BY
on | January 8, 2011, 18:19 GMT

Chennai did good thing buy going for their old players. In such tournaments where players meet for a short while, you need players who play as a team. By the time, the players establish a good team morale - the season will be done (Ex: Punjabs XI with Yuvi and Sanga, Bangalore with Kevin and the rest and now Mumbai - Symonds & Bhajji)

POSTED BY
on | January 8, 2011, 18:16 GMT

best of luck Kolkata night riders.... best of luck Shakib...

POSTED BY
on | January 8, 2011, 18:13 GMT

I feel bit odd that folks here are talking about money and how much value they add blah blah anywaz i am old fashioned who does not like IPL one bit but please tell apart from say Chennai all other teams will be New i mean blore looks like like old delhi ,Rajasthan looks like old bangalore and and so on so what each owner has done is he /she didnt like the
previous set of players they had so went out got new set of players from same old pool (Same old pool coz no Englishman from the T20 winning squad was added ) so if i was a fool and had bought those T-shirts and other fancy stuff from them now i ned to throw them away

POSTED BY
on | January 8, 2011, 17:54 GMT

@Saranya Roy. KKR good on cards not so on the field

POSTED BY
on | January 8, 2011, 17:53 GMT

i think KKR will have a good balance this time around. Really great to see Sakib Al Hasan in that team not only bcuz he is from my country bangladesh but because i feel he can b a very handy player for KKR. I hope they play him regularly !!

POSTED BY
on | January 8, 2011, 17:51 GMT

The teams that lack a quality opening batsman, should have gone for Tamim Iqbal; the explosive bangladesh opener

POSTED BY
on | January 8, 2011, 17:51 GMT

why dashing opener tamim iqbal is nt in!!!!!its a shocking news...he has da ability 2 hit da ball hard...also is in a treamendous form...um sure he will take a treatmnt against india in this world cup

INDIA - 4
SRI LANKA - 2
AUSTRALIA - 2
NEW ZEALAND - 1
lets c how many of them will be correct

POSTED BY
uknsaunders
on | January 8, 2011, 16:32 GMT

some kind of joke that Anderson and Swann don't even get a bid. Swann was probably the best slow bowler in the T20 WC, so I have no doubt this auction isn't based on logic. Gayle must of been worth a punt for someone. Surprised to see so many South African's going for big money considering how awful they were in the T20 WC...

Bangalore has already lost Rahul Dravid and Uthappa. Now, they must atleast try to retain Vinay Kumar.
Besides having a local flavour, he is also a good Allrounder, and can do wonders for the Local Team, and hence, also enable himself to be reselected for Team India.

POSTED BY
kichhasuresh
on | January 8, 2011, 7:35 GMT

Pune Warriors: Yuvraj Singh, Graeme Smith, Robin Uthappa strong

POSTED BY
on | January 8, 2011, 7:33 GMT

wow...
nice to c harbajan and lsaimonda are in same team ...

POSTED BY
on | January 8, 2011, 7:17 GMT

Can you add the final bid amounts in brackets next to each player?

POSTED BY
Rippersportspro
on | January 8, 2011, 7:14 GMT

The last day or so has gone well for Cameron White: named Australia's T20 captain yesterday, playing alongside KP and Sangakkara for Deccan Chargers at $1.1 million (which is the right price for him) and he is about to take part for Victoria against South Australia in the 20/20 Big Bash in under 2 hours. Also, White is doing quite well for himself with an IPL price of $1.1 million considering he is now Australia's T20 captain and is an integral member of our ODI team. As a NSW and Aussie fan, I wish him all the best!!!! Looks like Deccan will have a formidable team at this stage.

The last day or so has gone well for Cameron White: named Australia's T20 captain yesterday, playing alongside KP and Sangakkara for Deccan Chargers at $1.1 million (which is the right price for him) and he is about to take part for Victoria against South Australia in the 20/20 Big Bash in under 2 hours. Also, White is doing quite well for himself with an IPL price of $1.1 million considering he is now Australia's T20 captain and is an integral member of our ODI team. As a NSW and Aussie fan, I wish him all the best!!!! Looks like Deccan will have a formidable team at this stage.

POSTED BY
on | January 8, 2011, 7:17 GMT

Can you add the final bid amounts in brackets next to each player?

POSTED BY
on | January 8, 2011, 7:33 GMT

wow...
nice to c harbajan and lsaimonda are in same team ...

POSTED BY
kichhasuresh
on | January 8, 2011, 7:35 GMT

Pune Warriors: Yuvraj Singh, Graeme Smith, Robin Uthappa strong

POSTED BY
on | January 8, 2011, 7:39 GMT

Bangalore has already lost Rahul Dravid and Uthappa. Now, they must atleast try to retain Vinay Kumar.
Besides having a local flavour, he is also a good Allrounder, and can do wonders for the Local Team, and hence, also enable himself to be reselected for Team India.